In Season
by Senalia
Summary: Relationships develop through seasons. High school AU. Main pairing: Originalshipping, sub-pairing: Preciousmetalshipping. Might change rating to M later because of lemon. Mangaverse.
1. Chater 1

This is my very first fic and I am hyperventilating while uploading it. Hope you will enjoy it!

* * *

The three stories building faced west, stood lonely in the afternoon sun and the absence of lively teenagers. Thin autumn light penetrated the half-opened glass window, sneaked in between the spaces of the blind, and printed parallel lines of shadow on the desks, the teacher's back, and the scattered sheets of papers. As if it was mocking, the light highlighted the shitty grades in the corner of the papers.

"These are your grades from the first semester exams," said Brock with a solemn frown, staring in the face of his fidgeting student. "I know that club activities take lots of your time and interest, but if your academic grades are as bad as these", here he uncrossed his arms, moved one to the papers, and tapped his finger on the red-inked 17/100. "I can't let it slide".

Even with the breezes and cool maple-scented air filled the room, Red still felt the sweat forming on his temples and in his tight clenched palms. Sinking further into the chair, he faced the teacher with a nervous smile. " But sir," he cleared his throat, "You're not gonna call my house because of this" he cleared his throat once more "aren't you?"

"As your adviser, I'm responsible for evaluating your results and helping you to upgrade them. Though as much as I want to talk to your beautiful mother" Brock sighed, "I don't want to work overtime and I don't want her to either. Your mom works two jobs, right?"

"Yes, sir."

"Okay, I won't call your house" Red's face immediately radiated. "But I have to see improvements in your grades, and you're going to comply with my methods."

The teenager straighten his back, fixed his posture, and tried putting on a serious, determined expression that would cover up his joyful relief, though it did not work well, as his pair of red eyes were practically gleaming in the soft sunlight. "Anything, Brock! As long as you won't tell my mom, I'll do whatever you suggested to get my marks up."

"Good" smiled Brock, "go to the library on Monday after school. I already planned it out. Wait, did you just drop 'sir' and call my first name again!?"

Before he could answer the indignant teacher, Red had already bolted out of the room, chirped "Thanks! Bye", and pulled the slide door shut. The sound of his running footsteps and Brock's hollering of "NO RUNNING IN THE HALLWAY!" echoed in the lonely building.

From Monday to Thursday, the gate closed at 5:30, and at 4:30 on Friday with early dismissal. Surge, one of the gym teachers, was in charge of shutting/guarding the gate before and after school. This job gave him the joy of watching kids miserably running for their lives, and having small talks about detention for those who were less fortunate that didn't make it. It was Friday that Brock held Red back for a good hour of lecture (such lovely way to spend Friday afternoon), and was also the day that Gold decided to challenge Red for another rematch at the arcade. Red had always won, but did not plan to lose by not showing up.

Sprinting through the closing gate while avoiding the obstacle (Surge) was a difficulty of life that Red was often well trained for because of the late club practices. This was the forth time of the week and Red will not risk getting captured. He did not want to show up on the Sunday's news with an article having 'Teen Suicide' as the title.

However, Red's triumph of the succeeded escape only lived a brevity when he brutally collided into another obstacle. He landed onto the person, the person landed onto the ground. Notebooks, papers, pens, pencils, and whatever stuff that students carry, scattered on the dusty, brown-red leaves covered sidewalk.

"Oh shit, I'm..." supported with his arms, Red got the upper body up and stayed in the knee push-up position, still lightheaded from the crash.

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOUR EYES AT?" The derisive shout ringed through his ears, awakened his senses to focus the vision on those green eyes, which were glaring dagger at him. Red had never seen any eyes so green.

"...Hey!...HEY! WOULD YOU MIND GETTING OFF OF ME NOW!?" A forceful shove to the shoulder and exasperated growls had pulled Red back to reality of the strange position they were in. He was pinning the guy down, and one of his knees was in between the guy's legs.

"Oh, sorry!" He scrambled to stand up, then offered a hand to the one on the ground. That one smacked away Red's hand and stood up by himself.

"Um, sorry...again" the rejected hand found its way to raven hair and dug in the fingers, avoiding awkwardness. "Er… Are you okay?"

"No" was all the sulky teen gave to Red's concern, before dusting his school uniform dark trousers and lowering to collect the backpack contents. Red lowered to do the same. But his attention was on somewhere else rather than pens and notes on the ground: it was on the ears where a few strands of brunette hair fell softly upon; on the cheeks and nose where perfect sharpness was defined; and on the thick, brunette eyelashes where underneath hid eyes that shone a vibrant green. Again, Red swore he had never seen any eyes so green. And oh wait, the mouth...

"What?" an annoyed tone dragged Red's attention back to the eyes, which were featured with a pair of furrowed brows.

"Huh?"

"The hell you staring at?" Red flinched. Had he been actually staring? Okay, okay, when get caught red handed, just play cool.

"Ah-uh...nothing. I-I don't know?" Great, way to go, Red. A question? A statement? Whatever the damn hell that was, even Red cannot comprehend it himself.

"Are you a moron?" Green orbs blinked once, then twice, for either adjusting their pupils to the brightness or the brunette was just plainly amused. "Cause I think you are". A corner his mouth lifted into a smirk, foul mouth it seemed but also small and kissab-... OKAY! RED, STOP STARING!

"N-no, I'm not!" Red had given up the one-sided staring contest when he caught up with the belittlement from the other. Now internally, he swore he had never met anyone this rude before.

"Only morons would close their eyes running down the street, have their bag open, and absentmindedly stare at strangers".

"Oh yeah? But you're letting a moron crash you down to the ground, you too was having your bag open, and CONSCIOUSLY LETTING A MORON STARE AT YOU?" Oh, wait a minute...

It was impossible to distinguish the differences between the colour of red autumn leaves and the colour of the two teenagers' faces, because there was none. Embarrassment, confusion, loss of self-esteem,... all those shitty emotions that adolescence consist of they both experienced then. And if awkwardness was a good enough reason to die for, Red would be happy to volunteered jumping into a hole.

"W-what the fuck is wrong with you…?" After a long uncomfortable silence, the brunet initiated with muffled, croaky voice.

Red had never regret staring at him again at this moment. The image of him with head hanging low, eyes averting to the ground; face, ears, neck blushing insanely; and with one arm, pathetically attempting to hide them, will ever burned into Red's memory. The rude, pugnacious sonofabitch suddenly vanished into the air, leaving behind only the one that stood in front of Red. Seriously, Red thought he'd had a heart attack right there as the thumping noise and the pace of his heart just doubled from earlier. _Can't be the same person_ , Red thought, _can't be_.

Though if people said that this was love at first sight, they were wrong. Because no love ever included things like the person whom you love named you 'creepy moron', flipped you the finger, and ran away.

...

"Red! Why r' you so damn late? Holy shit! What's wrong with you!?" Gold was in the middle of dominating billiards when the dejected teen arrived. The teen dragged himself and his 'feel like shit' aura into the arcade, which stood so out of place in the convivial environment. His kouhai/best friend abandoned the winning game and led him straight to the fast food store across the street.

"So wasshup'?" Gold asked with his mouth busy chewing on a burger bite.

"Got rejected." Gold choked on the bite, coughed violently, then snatched the soda and slurped a big gulp of the fizzing drink down his throat. When finished, he inhaled.

"WHAT? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?" Red shot him a 'I ain't repeating that shit' look. "Okay, d' you confess?"

"No".

"Then how d' she reject you?"

"Stared at her, that's all. Called me a creep and ran away." Red sighed before his kouhai gave him a disbelief/disgust look. "Hey! You watch Silver all the time!"

"Yeah, but discreetly!"

"You think that makes it better?"

Gold cocked his head to the side and shrugged "Well, no. Argh, fine, is she pretty?"

The image of the brunet's gleaming eyes and flushing cheeks flashed through Red's mind. "Beautiful".

"Like?"

"Soft brown hair, cute ears, bright green eyes, elegant nose, cute mouth, sharp jaw line, and delicate neck." The vivid image that Red wanted recall so much more became ineffable. He wanted to see more, to remember more.

"Dude, you're a creep in love". Gold took another gulp of his drink. "She smacked you hard".

Dropping his head on the folded arms on the table, Red let out a groan. "By the way",

"What?"

"She's a guy". Gold choked once more.

... Meanwhile at the brunet's residence

 _Vulgar. Disgusting. Unbelievable. What a fucking creep._ Green cursed internally while dropping the cumbersome cardboard box to the ground.

"Hey, watch it! That one's my stuff!" Called from a woman with long brown hair, who was making her way down the stairs with little boxes in her hands.

"Why don't you move your own stuff then?" He scoffed grumpily. Outside, there's creeps; inside, there's work. He had nowhere to escape.

"Cause I'm a girl, and I have a cute, easy to manipulate little brother." Stopping halfway on the stairs, she chirped happily and threw him the boxes. Green stumbled to catch it, he hissed "Don't call me that!"

 _Oh, wait...a girl. That's right!_ "Daisy?"

"Hmm?"

"W-what would you do if you meet a creep?"

"Kick him in the crotch. Why?"

"Ummm...nothing. Thanks." Green ended the conversation by vanishing into his room. Tossing himself into bed, he wiped away the sweat on his forehead, and hoped that his thought about the creep would also be wiped away like that. His ego was not affected by the creep's stare, in fact, it was buffed up. But when he was caught savoring it by letting the creep stared him down, Green felt so ashamed.

His cat entered the room and started meowing. He rolled to the edge of the bed, reached and scooped her up onto his chest. He stroked her fluffy, brown fur coat, and was satisfied when she purred in return.

"Though, you know what, Eevee? At least it was funny when the guy admit that he himself was a moron" Green chuckled to the cat. "And it's like I would ever meet him again, right?"

Contented with the thought, Green petted the cat some more until she got bored and left, then got up from the bed and stretched. He grabbed his backpack to do homework (moving Daisy's boxes can wait), so he could be free the whole weekend. However, his plan would work well only if the notebook in his hand was actually _his,_ instead, it read "Red Masara" on the name tag.

Green threw the notebook across the room.


	2. Chapter 2

Days never dawned leisurely at Pallet town. The orange-lavender-blue gradient of the sky was a hidden embellishment behind the black silhouettes of flying geese, bare trees, and tall, archaic chimneys. Rays of sunlight began to slit the silvery veils of misty fog, as they showered down onto the few homes of the little town. The songs that birds chirped, the greetings that families exchanged, and the clanking noises that pots, pans, plates, forks, knives chanted at breakfast had all jumbled together like a performance of a street jazz band. It was still early in a Sunday morning when the lively Pallet residents started with their day.

Red loved the mornings in his home town. He stopped and inhaled the crisp, chilly autumn air that burn the inside of his nostrils while resting one hand on his knee, and with the other wiped away the droplets of sweat trailing down his chin. Then he stood straight, lifted his heels, raised arms over head, and stretched out his lanky, toned figure. The muscles of his calves, arms, and back tensed then relaxed, and shown visibly under his tanned skin. He had finished stretching by the time a van and two trucks pulled up to the house across the street.

He was welcomed with the loud barking, the buttery aroma of pumpkin pancakes, and the "Morning, sweetie!" from his mother as Red entered his home. Sitting at the entrance, he worked his fingers to untie the laces. His muddy, worn running shoes were wiped clean and settled in one of the compartments of the shoe holder.

From nowhere, an orange-yellow corgi with the top of its ears tinted black pounced on his back and barked, demanding his attention. "Hey, Pika!" Red laughed when the energetic dog licked his nose. He petted the short animal, gave it a few scratches behind the ear, then stood up and whistled for it to follow. The dog trotted along with its wagging tail, brushing against Red's calf.

"Hi, mom! What's up with the trucks outside?" Red asked as he entered the kitchen and sat at the table. His mother swiftly and quickly smacked his hand when he was sneaking a pancake into his mouth.

"Go shower first! You're sweating!" she scold, then giggled when her son childishly whine. "We're having new neighbors. Now go and wash yourself quickly before the pancakes get cold".

"M'kay" Red shrugged, but obediently made his way to the shower upstairs. After struggling to chase Pika out of the bathroom, he tugged off his sweaty shirt, and peeked out from a small window watching people move stacks of boxes and furnitures into the house on the other side of the street.

He saw an old man and a young woman with long brown hair talking to the helper guys (the men were wearing grey uniforms with big logos of "MovingChamp" printed on their backs), and guessed that they were his new neighbors.

Red was excited to meet the new people. That big house was recently renovated as it hadn't been inhabited for so long since the grouchy man (who yelled "PISS OFF MY LAWN!" whenever the five years old Red was standing three meters away from it) moved out. He missed having neighbors, and yet to mentioned, a beautiful brunette girl was going to be his neighbor... Wait, not all brunettes are beautiful. No, that was not what he meant.

Red hit his forehead with his hand, dragged it down slowly over his facial features, and dejectedly groaned "Arghh! Stop thinking of him!". He then roughly ruffled his sweat coated raven hair, letting out a long sigh and pulled the blind down the window.

But unbeknownst to Red, the one brunette that he had determined to stop thinking about had hopped out from the van that parked across the street.

...

"I think I should really forget about him" While moving his fingers swiftly and rapidly on the buttons of the DS, Red sighed. He sat on the bed with his back against the wall and bored, droopy eyes that listlessly gazed at the small digital screen.

"Then hurry up and do. Hell man, you said that for like the tenth time already." Gold's exasperated complaints came from the phone's speaker. "Wait, don't you dare 'Sleep Powder' on me. DON'T. YOU. DARE! Oh, fuck. Fuck you, you shit."

Red let his Venusaur finished off the foe's sleeping Typhlosion with a Solar Beam and won. However, when he couldn't take his mind off a certain thing and had had way too many wins against Gold, he found the victory was as tedious as the battle was. He would never tell that to his kouhai though, just for the sake of their friendship. "Seriously, I really should forget." He sighed.

"Okay, so I let you won and you're still giving me your shitty little whines?" The image of Gold throwing his arms up in the air for the dramatic effects leapt through Red's imagination when the younger teen cursed aloud. "You interacted with him for like 10 seconds, dammit!"

"I know, but it's just I can't, I don't know why." Red sighed again and rambled, "It's just...you know...he's good looking and stuff, but so damn rude. But like when he's not rude, he's so damn cute. I don't know, I just can't forget 'bout him. And it's so weird, he's a guy for fuck sake! I'm honestly so confuse, I've never notice any dudes' faces, but this guy I actually do. You stare at Silver all the time right? You feel weird at all...?" Red stopped as the vibration from his phone interrupted his speech "Wait hold up, I got a text."

"Holy shit, thank the Lord!" were the last audible curses from Gold before he hung up on his senpai.

"What the hell." Red pouted while exiting the call and opened up his text messages. If he knew Gold was this shitty of a friend, he would have just sabotage the kid from the beginning of the battle.

The screen shown a text from Yellow 'We have test on Monday. You study yet?'

Red's eyes grew wide. 'Wait, wat test?' He sent the reply.

'Bio. Cells and stuff.'

'Oh God, thanks for reminding me.' Red immediately squirmed out of his bed and reached for his backpack. Biology was one of the subjects that required text content memorization, and he had no talent for that shit. Red was the epitome of the visual learners.

He frantically looked through the notes section. He had flipped, turned and double checked all of the notebooks in the bag, but still he couldn't find the damn Biology notes. He dumped the whole bag's content onto the bed and hopelessly searched over again. He crouched down, lifted up the sheets and blankets and searched under the bed. He opened all of his desk's drawers and searched inside. He even ran to Pika's sleeping nest and searched there. Red felt panic paraded inside his stomach.

Okay, he took a deep breath. What if he asked Yellow for her notes? _No, hers are all doodles. It's useless when I can't understand it._ Red thought. And what about Blue's? _Like hell she would ever writes notes in class._

Red was screwed, and he knew damn well he was, because Brock will certainly call his home if he fail this test. The thought of standing in front of his mother's disappointed look chagrined the teen deeply.

But... if only she would _ever_ receive the call.

Pulling his fist backward, Red excitedly muttered "YES!" in his breath when the idea of unplugging the home phone's cables lit up in his mind. To hell with those horrid conversations about summer school, tutors and incoming report card! However, Red had to plan this out, and it had to be perfect.

The teen then submerged himself into the solemn thoughts and had not heard his mother's call from downstairs.

...

Bringing a tray of teapot and cups, Red's mom returned to the living room where sat her new neighbors: a grandfather and two charming siblings.

"I'm sorry, maybe he's asleep" she sighed, then quickly recovered with a friendly smile "But I think you guys would get along well, since you're both the same age and all."

"Yes, we would love that too." Daisy pulled her brother close, pinched one of his cheeks, and cooed. "You see Mrs. Ketchum, Green here is soooo grumpy he hasn't make any friends yet."

"I haf friends! Shtop ith, Daishy!" Everyone laughed when Green was desperately trying to push his sister away. He loved her so much.

...

Red had finally finished with his plan by 11:45 PM. Effortlessly like when he swept the pesky dry leaves off the yard, he did exactly so with his worries, and smiled complacently to himself whenever he thought of his self-approved, brilliant plan. He was humming as he cleaned the mess on his bed, but stopping when he had spotted something was out of place. It was an Eevee shaped eraser, and it wasn't his. He had never seen it before.

He grabbed the eraser to check it out, and found letters of "Green Ohkido' carved clumsily on the back of the little object. As the incident of Friday crept back into his memory, Red scrambled and rushed to his phone and dialed Gold's number. His fingers trembled in excitement, making the task much more difficult than usual. He remembered the brunette's attire that day, it was their school uniform.

"T' fuck? You know what time it is? I ain't gonna listen to anymore of your shit!" The one on the other line sounded acutely irritated and groggy, but Red couldn't care less.

"You know Green Ohkido?" Red asked, his impetuous and hasty tone shut the cranky Gold up.

"Uh...yeah. He's the student council's vice president. Silver and I see him sometimes when we have meetings."

"You know what class he's in? Why haven't I seen him before?" Red stopped to process more information, "And why the hell are you in the student council?"

"Joined cause Silv's there." Red rolled his eyes, not that Gold could see. "Second year, class four, the smart class. He must be studying his ass off with that class so probably go home right after school, being a nerd and all. And his name's on the top test scores list all the time, you just never check cause yours just never there." Gold smirked, not that Red could see.

"And you do?" The attempt to mock his kouhai had failed when Gold flatly replied "Check cause Silv's on there."

Red snickered and squealy mimicked Gold's voice into the phone "You're a creep in loveee."

"Right back at ya". Gold chuckled "Wait, don't tell me Green's the one-..."

"Yeah, he is." Red finished the sentence and hung up on Gold.

...

Green had just moved to Pallet town for merely twenty-four hours, and he hated it.

He specifically hated the mornings. The sun here was too bright that it pierced through his closed curtains, deliberately shone straight onto his face and waking him up. The air here was too cold that it seeped through his blanket, bit on his skin and waking him up. The noise here was too loud that it echoed through his closed windows, incessantly annoyed his eardrums and waking him up.

He woke up again, again, and again. He might as well didn't need to go to bed at all.

It was a Monday morning when Green dragged his lethargic self into the bathroom, and was terrified when he had looked in the mirror. The bags under his half-opened, red-rimmed eyes were a deep dark colour just like his current mood, his bed hair was unruly pointing in every awkward angles, and his face was dull and pale like a ghost. It was bad enough for Green to admitted that he look like death.

Deciding he would fix himself up after breakfast, he made his way downstairs and straight into the kitchen. At the dining table sat his grandfather, who looked up from the newspaper and raised an eyebrow at the grandson "Morning, Green. You look tired."

"Hey, Gramps. Yeah, I didn't sleep well." Green yawned while making his way to the boxes in the pantry, then stood there and wondered.

"You want coffee, Green?" Daisy poked her head in from the kitchen.

"Yeah, make it black. By the way Daisy, which one's the cereals again? Magenta or salmon?" Here he referred to the colored duct tape on the boxes. Pinks were for the dry food.

"It's magenta! You know which one's for the cups? Navy or neon blue?" Blues were for kitchen utensils.

"Neon." Green said and snatched a kitchen knife. The magenta tape was smoothly cut and revealed the colorful boxes of sugary cereals. He smiled "Bingo. Hey, grab me a bowl, too."

"Kay!" The clinking of ceramic cups and bowls told that Daisy had had hers also. "Bingooo!" Ah, see? Bingo.

Their grandfather smiled at the noisy siblings behind his rustling newspaper. The silly game only revived when they moved, and until the day all their stuff were unpacked, neither of them would restrain from shouting 'Bingo' to each other.

If people hadn't known the Ohkidos enough, they would have assumed that the Ohkidos were just some rich, self-absorbed people that lived with superficial feelings and lack of family bonding, basing on their successful careers and crazily busy schedules. Fact was the first one, as they were Ohkidos, they were obliging to offer absolute devotion to their goals; and nonsenses were the rest of the false assumptions. The three of them had always treasured every insignificant moments that they had spent together, and every subtle bits of memory that they had made, even the silly and annoying bingo moving game.

"By the way, Green, I can't drive you today." The teen wanted to spit his coffee on his sister but couldn't, because he had choked on it.

"WHAT? He coughed. "How the hell" he coughed again, "am I going go to school?" and again. He tried to speak out the words while straining back the coughs. His grandpa gave several gentle pats onto Green's back without taking his eyes off the newspaper. "It's in Viridian city!"

"Ask the Ketchum kid next door. He's going to same school as you, he'll know how to get there." Daisy put the dishes down in the sink, then she looked to her left, to her right, and then to her left again.

"Keys' here." Both of the Ohkido men said.

"Ah, thanks." Daisy skipped back to the dining table and picked up her keys. She kissed her grandpa on the cheek, then scooched over to her little brother but only to be pushed away. "What? We do this everyday!" She pouted.

"I'm mad at you." Green turned his back to Daisy and made a 'humph' sound in his throat, his arms folded to his chest at while.

"Why the first thing you do in the morning is being grumpy? I always drive you to school!"

"Right, and I _always_ walk you to work, too." He quipped sarcastically. Their grandfather cleared his throat twice, a habit that suppressed himself from laughing at the siblings' bicker. But he didn't hide the smile, and Green smirked along with his grandfather.

"Grandpa! Don't you side with him! Well, fine, not always. Ugh, I'll pick you up after then, deal?" Daisy puffed out her cheeks to her grandfather, then turned back to her snobby brother.

"Fine, deal." Needed only that, Daisy quickly grabbed Green and kissed him on the forehead, then stormed out of the house. "Bye guys!"

"You should head out, too, if you want to be on time" his grandfather turned a page of the newspaper while Green was sipping the leftover milk of his cereals.

"Yeah, I'll go ask the guy that lived across the street."

"Hmm. I do think they're good neighbors."

"Yeah, I do too. Mrs. Ketchump 's nice-..." Their talk was interrupted by the doorbell. "I'll get it" said Green and off he went to the door.

Maneuvering through the hallway, which half of the area was occupied with crowded stacks of cardboard boxes, Green wondered where had his cat been this morning, and irrelevantly remembered that he have a Biology test that day. Oh well, he memorized the unit ages ago anyway. Wait, wasn't he still keeping that notebook of-...The shiny, nylon-enclosed doorknob turned and the door swung open. Green's heart missed a beat.

"Hey! How's it going? I'm-..." the greeting of the teen with striking scarlet eyes was suddenly lost for words. Red stood dead frozen in front of Green, with his raven fringes fluttered in the wind under his cap and his jaw dropped open.

Of all the things Green could have chosen to say, he muttered "Red Masara" in his own astonishment.

Widened his eyes, the other teen was even more surprised "Wait, you know my-...", but he was cut off as the brunette apprehensively slammed the door shut. Green took a few seconds to settle down, inhaled sharply, regretting that he didn't scream "CREEP!" in the guy's face, and that he should've fix his shitty appearance before. _But why would I want to look good in front of a creep?_ He thought, and frowned at his stupid little, wait no, massive ego.

"Green? Is there something wrong?" Green flinched when his grandfather called.

"N-no! It's nothing!" His voice cracked.

"Uh...Green? Are you...Green?" A hesitant voice came from the other side of the door. "Ummm...I heard you need a ride to school?"

"...Never mind, Gramps! Can you come here?"

Green rarely ever depended on his famous, clever, and reliable grandfather, except for when he needed the guardians' signatures (only until he reach eighteen, of course), and when he had lost his composure and could not use logic. The second reason was recently added to his list because of Red Masara's uninvited visit at his home.

Red turned out to be 'the kid that lived across the street', and also an affable person as he had made the old Ohkido enjoyed a good conversation with him. They started off about the weather, then smoothly went into weather pattern of Pallet, then local markets in Pallet, then dining places in Pallet, then the water way of Pallet, then the mayor of Pallet, then whatever about Pallet that Green had stopped listening to. He was surprised Red can held up the conversation so well, and for once, he stood there feeling like an outsider even with his grandpa beside him. He should've told Gramps about what had happened but didn't, because it was too embarrassing and he did not want to be impolite by interrupting their talk. For a moment, Green felt like an annoying five years old that wanted to demand attention to himself.

Green's grandfather really liked the cheery neighbor kid, in fact, so much that he sent his grandson off to school with him, despite the protesting looks that Green had gave.

The autumn breezes blew some of the red leaves into the air, and combed through the teenagers' hair as they were steadily riding through the dirt road of Route 1. The bike creaked as the brunette shifted awkwardly on the back. Part of it was because he didn't know where to grab onto, and the other part was because he was so ready to jump off and run for his life if Red ever attempting to take any shady turn. Okay, he did accidentally eavesdrop some of rape traumas from the girls in his class.

The red eyed teen had been quiet after he told Green's grandfather goodbye, and although Green was slightly offended about Red was not being as friendly to him as he did with his grandpa, he understood the reason: they had a _great_ first impression. Though, Green was confused about the leap in their non-existing relationship. The other day he had called Red a creep, but Red was acting as if no such thing had happened, and now Green found himself sitting on the back of the creep's bike.

But Green didn't mind the silence as his rational gears were busy turning and rotating and having their teeth clicking into logic in his head. He was having too many guesses and too many questions, but too much hesitation to ask the teen in front of him. _Why is your last name different from your mother? Why aren't you mentioning about anything last Friday? Why are you pretending like nothing had happened?_

"What time is it?" Red suddenly asked.

Green startled and checked his phone "Uh...Eight fifteen."

"Shit. We're late." Red cursed, leaning forward and hastened his paddling feet. The sudden change of speed and the incline of bumpiness horrified the unprepared Green. By reflex, he clawed onto Red's back.

"Gah! What the hell?" Red yelped.

"You gave me a heart attack!" Green spat.

"And you're giving me scars back there." Red softly laughed and taken Green by surprise.

 _Why are you being nice to me? Why are you different from last Friday?_

"You see, Surge's kinda merciless to late students" Red said "And I'm one of the regulars."

"Oh, really". Green replied.

"Yeah, and you're about to become one too".

"Then you better hurry up. I've never been late before." Green flippantly ordered.

 _How long are you going keep this cover up?_

"You're the scaredy-cat that had clung to me when I sped up." As there was mocking in Red's tone, Green smiled.

 _Here you are, the Friday Red Masara._

"You're the asshole driver that almost made me end up with skull damages." He retorted.

Red snickered "Okay, fine. You should just walk to school from here then" he nudged his head to the short distance from where they were to the school. "Bet your scrawny rich kid's legs would break halfway, then you'll cry bout' it to your grandpa."

After blurting out the comeback, Red wanted to see the other's blushing action, and looked over his shoulders only to find Green's wide opened eyes reflecting with dark storms and burning flames in their green irises. The brunette opened his mouth, and had menacingly intended to say something before Red hastily announced:

"Wait, hold on! Surge's not closing the gate yet." Red sped up right after and left Green no time to get himself ready. With no choice, Green clung back to Red, but he used all his strength to dug his fingernails into the flesh of Red's back. After they had hurtled through the school gate, Red made a sharp break, blowing off a mini tornado of leaves behind his bike, and caused his poor passenger to brutally lunged forward. Again by reflex, Green grabbed onto Red but only this time he squeezed his arms around Red's torso. His face pressed onto Red's broad shoulders and his nose rubbed against the white, crumpled fabric of the shirt. The brunette teen sniffed in a faint scent of woody pine forest, which he had swore he would hate that smell forever, and felt his face growing hot.

Green looked up to find Red smirking above him: "Scrawny scaredy-cat" Red sang.

Green snapped. He released the hold of Red to hopped off the bike and grabbed Red's shirt collar tight in his right fist. The bike fell as Green yanked Red standing up. He grabbed the ravenette's elbow with the other hand, turned around, stepped legs wide with the back leg blocking against Red's and the front bending, then lowered and with all his strength he pulled his holds. Red's cap flew off his head as Green tripped and threw him onto the cement schoolyard. The leaves on the ground crunched crisply as Red's back and butt crashed onto them.

"Bet your sorry ass shit half way and you'll cry bout it to your mom, asshole." Green sneered with green eyes burning against the background of the red foliage before he stormed off to class, leaving Red paralyzed in amazement with an ajar jaw on the ground.

It had happened too fast and too rapid that it was beyond the capability of Red's brain to catch up, or even realize that Green had did a judo toss on him. Where was the cute blushing brunette of that Friday? _Not the same person._ Red reminded himself. _Not at all._

But the black haired teen was not only the one who was in shocked. The passerby that hid behind the shrubs had watched Red Masara sitting on the ground in disbelief. No one had ever seen Red Masara off his feet; no one had ever seen Red Masara with his back landed; but especially, no one had ever tossed Red Masara down so easily. Discreetly, the passerby sneaked out of his hiding spot and ran for his life.

As for Red, he was oblivious to his surrounding as he watched Green's delicate frame angrily walked away. When Green was out of sight, Red stood up, picked up his cap and dusted it, put it on his head, then grabbed his bike and wandered to the back of the school. He dropped the bike and laid onto the dark green grass, taking his hat off and lazily placed it over his closed eyes. He was going to miss three classes and a test, but he didn't care. He wouldn't be able to focus anyway, as his mind would only ponder on why the hell would he fall for a badass like Green Ohkido. Red hissed as the scratches on his back rubbed against the uniform shirt.

...

The brunette was biting and grinding on the tail of the pen between his teeth. He was able to finished the test early, and now he just sat in his desk being bored of doing nothing. But when he was being bored of doing nothing, his mind tend to be contemplative. Green knew that it was him who had started the fight, but only half of his moral was feeling ashamed about it, and the other half was trying to bargain with himself.

Green had a reason to brought back the Friday Red Masara: because nothing could ever deter that Red from having his eyes on Green. Not on some stupid weather patterns, not on some little restaurant in the town's corner, and not even on Green's grandfather, on _nothing_ but Green. At their first meeting, that Red gave Green his absolute attention, and that was what Green had wanted.

But Green knew he was being completely unreasonable. He had just met the guy only two days ago, yet the yearning for Red to notice him itched, scratched, and throbbed so relentlessly in his chest, Green hated it. It urged him to start the fight, then he lost his temper and ended up fucked both Red and himself over. It made him look like an idiot, and he hated it.

However, Green was fairly pleased when those crimson eyes locked tight with his verdant ones, as he did a _tai otoshi_ on Red.

The satisfaction was short-lived as Green asked himself " _What the fuck have I been thinking?"_ His pen gained a new teeth mark on it as the brunette bit harder when he felt a subtle heat slowly creeping onto his cheeks. Why the hell would he crave for another guy's attention was totally incomprehensible. Green wasn't gay, he didn't hate girls and he even dated them before. His ego loved attention, sure, but never from a guy until Red came. He didn't know what the hell was so different about Red Masara.

Though Green would never ever ever in his life acknowledge that Red did have nice toned abs. Never.

…

"Red! Red! Wake up!" was what Red had heard in his muzzy sleepiness. A pair of golden amber eyes were looking down at him when he lifted his heavy lids.

"Good morning ya shit. Skipping without telling me now, huh? I even went to the upper classes floor lookin' for you! So basically you owed me real big." Gold plopped himself down next to Red, quickly grabbed Red's bag and snitched out a lunch box from it. "And this is the price you gotta pay!" The younger teen chirped, then nonchalantly opened the box and helped himself.

Red yawned. The grass underneath him rustled as he rolled and faced the other way from Gold. "Yeah, whatever just have it. I don't want any."

Putting a whole piece of egg roll into his mouth, Gold chewed while muffled "Still heartbroken?" and waited for an answer. Red was always slow at this.

On the dot of twenty seconds, Red sighed "What would you do if the person you like is bipolar?"

"Green's bipolar?" Gold raised an eyebrow while stabbing a meat ball with the chopsticks. Red sighed again, and Gold took that as a reply. "Kay', like how?"

"He got me mad, and then got mad at me in the end. Hey, don't throw them out, give them here." Red reached in his own lunch box, and picked out the cherry tomatoes that Gold had pushed into a corner like diseases. He popped one in his mouth. "I don't know the hell's going on with him, he confuses me so much."

"Wait, wait you guys meet again!?" Gold asked, dropping a green pea from the chopsticks.

Red told him the whole story.

"What the fuck." Gold swung the hand that hold the chopsticks and pointed at Red. "So you...!" He grunted; "met your damn crush…!" He pointed the chopsticks in some random direction; "In. Ten. Seconds…!" He snapped his wrist up and down, rhythmically following the words as he pronounced; "then the next week he just become your neighbor and you got to bike him to school?" Here, Gold almost flung the chopsticks away as his arm threw itself in the air. "I've been chasing Silver since goddamn middle school, and I haven't done any shit with him!" he whined.

"Well, maybe that's why you haven't done any shit with him" Red shrugged "Since all you do is chasing him around."

"But he always runs away as soon as he sees my face!" Gold frustratingly growl, and savagely stabbed another meat ball.

"No shit, you chase him."

"Oh shut up, you got thrown to the ground." And Red shut up. The pain of his butt and back rioted at the reminder.

"Okay, I didn't know he's that aggressive." Red folded his arms to his chest and shrugged. "But I'm at fault though, I called him a scrawny rich kid." He sighed "and now I kinda feel like shit."

Gold laughed "Yeah, never thought the scrawny rich kid would make the great Red grounded, eh?"

Red glowered at the younger teen only to made him cackled even louder. As the corner of his scarlet eyes quickly captured a flash of red, Red hit Gold on the back to stop the laughing, and directed his finger to a kid whose long maroon hair made it easy to spot him in the crowd standing in the cafeteria. The silver light in the kid's sharp eyes reflected and traveled miles away.

Gold jumped up in ecstasy and sprinted to where the redhead was, screaming in a singsong voice of "SILLLLLLVEEEEERRRR BAAAAAABEEEE!". The startled target quickly moved aside, cleverly dodging the teen that pounced at him with open arms and voracious eyes. Gold ended up hugging air and crashed onto the ground.

Red watched his kouhai stumbling to get up and followed Silver around the cafeteria, but got shoo away by Blue and Crystal as they came to rescue to poor redhead. He made up their entire conversation based on their poses: Blue was accusing as both her hands rested on her hips, Gold was explaining he didn't do nothing with flippant shrugs, Crystal was being the peacemaker as she wailed her arms between Blue and Gold, and quiet Silver just left them with his eyes rolled many times.

After realizing that Silver was gone, Gold was disheartened and returned back to his senpai on the grass.

"I think hanging out with you make my love life shitty." Gold grunted, and Red laughed.

"It has been already shitty since middle school."

"Shut up! I'm depressed enough already!" The kouhai groaned, cupping his chin and resting his elbows on the knees and closed his amber eyes. Red smiled and dropped his back down the soft grass again. He was quite happy with the perfect warmth of the autumn's sunlight, as it was soft and gentle yet still had enough of the coziness. However, Red's little enjoyment ended when a shadow had loomed over him.

"Are you Red Masara and Gold Wakaba?"

With their names called, Gold and Red turned to find a gang of five, or six delinquents wearing uniforms of black bottoms and dark grey vests, with the 'R' emblem printed on the sleeves. Some of them carried whether baseball bats, or thin, long steel cylinders, or just intense animosity in their smirks.

"You from Rocket High?" Red asked with his tone turned solemn.

"Yeah, and you brats are coming with us." One of the delinquents that had his bang dyed purple stepped up and tapped his cylinder on Red's shoulder, smiling "We've got some real business with you."

"Ohhh yeahhh. It's cus' we beat their co-leader's ass last month, Red." Gold faked the surprise voice, making the all delinquents glared at him maliciously.

Red went along with his kouhai "Ohhhh, the guy with the _great_ mohawk hairdo. I see, indeed I remember him."

"SHUP UP YOU SHITS!" The metal rod was lifted up and had intended to break some of Red's bones as it viciously descended. Red caught it with a single hand at an inch above his shoulder, smirking and turning his head to face his kouhai with amusement shone mischievously in his scarlet eyes, and asked:

"Aren't you feeling depressed?"

"Hell yeah I am." Gold replied, then bolted up and swung a punch into the face of the purple haired punk.

...

"I can't believe those fuckwits called for backups" Gold spit out a blob of blood that had bled from the cut in his gum, and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand "We could've finished much earlier, and I wouldn't miss a class with Silver" he complaint.

Red relaxed his reddened fists, which were featured with the swollen knuckles and faint blue veins from him clenching them for too long, he sighed "Well, they are fuckwits. That's why they needed backups". He swiped away the sweat that had glistened on his forehead, exposing his skin to the cool breezes of autumn's evening, then cracked each of his fingers to see if any of them were broken.

"How did they even get in our school?" Pulling up the shirt sleeves, Gold examined the fresh purple bruises underneath. "Isn't Surge here?"

"No. I didn't get caught sleeping outside." Red picked up his bag and fished out his phone, scrolling through a few of unread messages. "Ah shit, Sapphire's mad at us. She saw us beating these guys while in class from the window."

"Well, like hell we have any time screaming for her help." Gold snorted. "And if she's here, she'll steal all my shining moments."

Red had switched to the call logs and found numerous of missed calls from an unknown number, he showed them to Gold "Know who this is?"

Gold shrugged "Nope, ya tried calling them back?"

Red did, and he was greeted with the heated yelling of the student adviser. It was something about Monday at library after school… Oh shit, Monday at library after school! Red hurried to gather his stuff, saluted Gold with quick hand wave, and madly sprinted into the school.

…

"I am so sorry, Green. My student will be here soon, he has just picked up my call." Brock slid his phone into the side pocket of his trousers, and set himself down onto a chair opposite of Green. "Thank you so much for being patient. I swear I will strain that kid into shape someday" he sighed "or so I hope."

"It's alright, sir." The brunette teen said. "I volunteered for this, so it is also my responsibility to be patient. And beside, this will look good on my cover letter" he smiled.

Brock leaned back at his chair and sighed "Why don't I have any good kids like you in my class?"

"Because I'm in the smart class, sir." Green lifted a corner of his mouth..

"Then be dumber and be in my class?"

"No, thanks." Green laughed, "I do appreciate-..." but he was interrupted by a black haired teen, who frantically ran into the room and disturbed the whole placid environment of the library. He was short of breath, and was huffing rapidly when he walked to where Brock and Green were sitting. His arms were covered in bloody scratches and wounds, his face was green, his voice was hoarse and dry.

"Sorry...late...I'm late." He breathed, his scarlet eyes set on Green curiously.

"Red, what did you do?" Alarming at the scene, Brock stood up from his chair.

The ravenette inhaled "I fell down the stairs."

 _Idiot._ Green shot Red a sympathetic look. Wait, but if Red was here, that meant…"Sir, you've never mentioned that Red Masara was the student that I need to work with." Green irritatedly said.

"Oh sorry, do you two have any personal conflict between each other?" The adviser deliberately directed his question at Red, who had received from Green a quick glare which was probably meant 'I fucking dare you to tell him'. Red had officially named Green the second of the most terrifying things, only after his mother.

"No, sir." Red told another blatant lie.

"Well, alright. Then Red, meet Green Ohkido, your volunteered tutor. And Green, meet Red Masara, your student until his grades would be as beautiful as the infirmary nurse Joy of our school." Roses and pink glittery aura just bursted out from Brock, as he practically sang the last sentence. Red and Green cringed in unison. "Anyway, since this troublemaker was late today," he sighed at Red "We can just go over the general things for you guys to know what to work on together." Brock took out from his briefcase a few pieces of paper, which were horrendously familiar to Red, and spread them out on the table. He looked at his watch and startled "Shoot! I have to go to a staff meeting. You guys take it from here, alright?", then quickly, the student adviser left the room.

"What is this garbage?" was what Green had blurted out after making a quick scan on the red inked marks.

"Shut up, scrawny. Like you can do any better." Red grunted a hostile retort.

The brunette just laughed "That was offensive coming from a moron."

"Oh, so now we're back to square one?" Red tossed his bag onto the ground, and kicked it under the table. "You gonna' think of a new nickname for me everyday, huh?" He sat himself down on Brock's vacant chair, his red eyes punctured straight into the green ones at the opposite side.

"Yeah, how about shithead for tomorrow?" Green smirked.

"Yeah, for me, scrawny will be forever perfect." Red smiled cheekily.

The thin eyebrows of the brunette shot up "You want to pass or no?"

That was when Red shut up. Of course he wanted to pass, he had promised to follow Brock's method to improve his grades, and it seemed like Green was smart enough to make it possible for him. Though Green was also on the edge of making it impossible, as he use the insult of 'moron' whenever he had the chance.

"Your science marks are shit" Green picked up the Biology, Physics and Chemistry tests and frowned. "How the hell you manage to get the mass times acceleration questions wrong?"

"I don't know. I got them right on quizzes but I just suck in exam." Red shrugged.

"Moron." Green smirked his charming smirk, and Red just gave up. He pouted and leaned back to the chair and veered his eyes to the window, watching the few orange-red leaves on the branches that were gently fluttering in the wind. He tried not to stare at the handsome brunette.

When he did not receive any response from Red, Green lowered the sheets of paper for his eyes to hover above them, and observed the disheveled teen that sat across from him. Red's sleeves were rolled up at his elbows, revealing several new wounds on the rest of his arms. The jutting bones of his sturdy wrists, the distinctive V lines that connected to his middle and index knuckles, and his stocky but long, crooked fingers, Green had found them strangely attractive. There was a darkening bruise on his jaw, a diagonal cut about one and a half centimeter at the corner of his mouth, and a few small scratches on his cheekbones and temples. His eyes now were a somber red. Never would Green say this out loud, but he did admit Red looked quite cool then.

Deciding that he had observed enough "So you fell down the stairs?" Green asked to save the awkward silence, and took his eyes away as the red orbs jerked back at him.

"Yeah, totally." Red scoffed.

"And who would hate you so much to push you down?" Green chuckled and challenged Red with a raise of an eyebrow.

The ravenette laughed "Punks from Rocket High."

"They beat your ass?" Green ran his finger from the corner of his mouth diagonally upward. Red then brought up his to find the wound, and hissed in surprise as if he didn't even notice it before Green had pointed it out.

"We were outnumbered." Red sighed. "They called for backups and brought more metal stuff" he rolled up his right sleeve, showing a gash that ran from the top of his shoulder to mid of his upper arm "And some of them were sharp."

Green frowned "Ouch."

"These aren't that bad." Red shrugged and quickly chuckled "Not as bad as my sore butt and cracked back from this morning."

The brunette immediately turned red, and that had made Red felt relieved a little bit. After all of the violence, Green's cute side hadn't died somewhere on the side road yet, thank God.

Shy green eyes avoided the red ones. "Sorry." Green mumbled.

"Pardon me?" Red put one of his hand behind his ear and leaned forward.

"I'm sorry." Green grunted in his throat.

"Still can't hear you."

"SORRY! ALRIGHT?" The shouted apology and the banging sound of Green's hands on the wooden table had awaken the sleepy librarian. He came and shushed the red faced, angry brunette. When the librarian had left, Green scowled his vibrant eyes at Red, then stood up and dug his hand into his bag, taking out a notebook and threw it at the giggling ravenette.

"That shit's yours. Have fun failing." Green snarled and turned his heels to walk out of the library.

Red flipped the notebook over to find his name on it, and cursed _Son of a..._ quickly, he collected his stuff and chased after the brunette.

They were outside in the empty school yard when Red had caught up and grabbed Green by the shoulder, swinging him to turn around. "I've been looking for this since last night." Daring crimson eyes gnawed into green ones as Red waved his Biology notes in front of Green's face. The dry brown leaves crunched under Red's shoes as he forced closer to Green, intimidating the brunette. "If you haven't took it, I would've been able to study. So it's your fault that I've failed the test today, and you are taking full responsibility for it."

Looking at Red with wide eyes, Green was actually impressed with the situation that a moron like Red had put him in. He stood facing Red's accusation, and assuaged his pride that he needed the damn volunteer hours anyway. "Fine" he huffed, "but only until you pass. I'm not going to bring you up to the top ranking list, not that I ever could anyway. So now please leave me alone." He shoved Red out of the way, ignoring the joy that had lit up in Red's eyes, and walk off as fast as possible. The ravenette's face was starting to rankled Green.

Red walked/skipped to the back of the school to pick up his bike, and as he was contentedly leading it out of the school and about to paddle away, he caught the brunette stood at the other side of the gate. He called "You want a ride back?"

Green had acknowledged Red's offer as he took his eyes off the phone and looked up, however, he decided to be unresponsive, and focused back on the device's screen again. Red frowned and discreetly walked his bike behind the brunette, inhaled deeply and attempted to shout "BOO!" before…

"You're a goddamn moron. Go away." Green growled without even looking at Red.

Red pouted "How are you getting home then?"

"Daisy's picking me up, now go away."

"Okay, I'll go first then." The ravenette had hopped on his bike, but before he took off, he had a naughty grin on his face as an impish idea had popped into his head. He placed an index finger on the nape of Green's neck and playfully slid it down from there, following the backbone line and stopped at the edge of the uniform trousers.

Green jumped in alarm and had nearly dropped his phone. Red in rage, he turned around to find the culprit, who had already rode his ass off far away while flashing a toothy smile back at him. The tirade of "FUCKING CREEPY MORON! FUCK OFF!" came along with a middle finger pointed up to the sky were dearly dedicated to Red.

However, Green was so caught up in anger and the thoughts of murdering the stupid ravenette, to the point where he was completely oblivious to the imminent danger lurking behind the nearby shrubs.

…

It was 11:45 PM when Red sensed the déjà vu of something was out of place. He threw off his blanket as he sat up, reaching and pulling the lamp's string to flush his room back with light. His attention was immediately caught by the Eevee shaped eraser, which he had forgotten to return to the owner, sitting still on his old desk. Red stared senselessly at the little object until a hasty ring of his front door startled him. He heard his mother's footsteps made their way downstairs, then upstairs again after several minutes later. His mother opened his bedroom door and entered with her face pale against harsh orange fluorescent light.

"Green's missing." she said.

* * *

The characters' last names come from their hometowns' names but in Japanese, like Wakaba = New Bark town, Masara = Pallet town. Hope you enjoyed the 2nd chapter!


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